Core Data and Foundation Objects
Foundation Objects and Data Models
Foundation objects (FOs) are the reusable records that populate Employee Central fields: legal entity, business unit, division, department, location, job code, position, pay grade, pay group, event reason, and frequency. Most are MDF objects with a unique externalCode, a name, and validity dates. Organizational FOs (legal entity, business unit, division, department, location) form hierarchies where a child record points to a parent. Job code and position are different: job code is the generic role, position is the specific budgeted slot that can have incumbents.
Understand the three data models: Corporate (org structure), Country-Specific (person fields by country), and Succession (talent data). Candidates must also know that FOs are effective-dated, so changes do not rewrite history.
Traps: confusing job code with position; assuming every FO is an organizational FO; forgetting that event reason drives workflow and rule behavior; and treating code as externalCode. Another common trap is expecting a foundation object edit to retroactively change existing employee records.
Worked example: A question asks where a legal entity's parent is defined. The answer is the parent association on the foundation object record itself, not Job Information. Rule of thumb: if a value is reused across many employees and rarely changes, it is a foundation object; if it describes one employee's assignment, it belongs in Job Information.